On this tour you will learn the history of Panama City as you sketch the
steps of the Spanish Conquistadors. Discover the three cities in
one; Old Panama, Colonial Panama, and Modern Panama and how Panama City turn up as the most
important trade center of the New World. Following, we will meet
Panama’s mega-attraction which took 250,000 people from all corners of
the globe and more than 10 years to build, the Panama Canal.
We
will start with the ruins of the original Panama, “Panama La Vieja”,
founded in 1519, the first official
city
founded by Europeans on the Pacific coast of the Americas and the
headquarters of the treasure trails that crossed the isthmus to the
Caribbean, the gateway city for the Spanish conquest of Latin America, with ruins of a once elegant city built in 1519 and destroyed by Henry Morgan
in 1671 . We'll stroll among the
stone walls and 
remnants of what was once considered the richest city in
the Americas. After the wreckage of Panama La Vieja the city moved
east to what is now Panama City, called “Casco Viejo”,
which will be our next visit. Visitors may shop for native crafts in
a market alongside, or enjoy a cold drink in a cafeteria that overlooks
the bay.
Casco
Antiguo became the new Panama City of the times and was never successfully
damaged, being protected by a wall that surrounded the new
town. This beautiful colonial area with the
ruins of 17th century convents and residences has several attractions
that tourists shouldn't miss. We'll
walk along the French Plaza with its
monument
to the French entrepreneurs who began the Panama Canal and to
the 22,000 who died in this operation, we'll
take a look at the Golden Altar in the San Jose Church,
one of the few testimonies to all the wealth that made its way through
this city. Not far away is the famous "flat arch" which
convinced the American engineers that Panama was a geologically
stable area , proving that
the country is free from earthquakes and hurricanes, for building the
Canal…incredible but true! Following we
will visit
the
InterOceanic Canal Museum
located in a restored building that once housed the headquarters of the French
company that attempted to build the canal. The
museum presents a broad perspective of the historical development of
Panama from its Spanish colonial days to the completion of the canal in
1913.
From Casco Antiguo we will go along the bay of Panama to the modern area of Panama City , with its Manhattan-like skyline , modern buildings, one of the worlds’ largest banking districts and multi million shopping molls. Here you will experience the city’s vibrant business rhythm and will be surprised of how fast this city transforms within 10 minutes drive.
By
now it should be time for a nice Panamanian lunch enjoyed at a typical
restaurant.
After lunch we
will approach the
Panama Canal at the Miraflores
Locks and
observe
90,000-ton vessels rise and drop more than 50 feet as they make their
way over Panama from one ocean to another and
enjoy an audiovisual presentation that describes how ships pass through
this engineering wonder. 
The
visitor centre has 4 exhibition halls: Canal History, Water - the Source
of Life, The Canal in Action and the Canal of the World.
Then on our way back we’ll drop by at the
arts and crafts market, where you will have a chance to shop for souvenirs.
We will conclude our tour at the Amador Causeway, situated at the mouth of the Panama Canal and bordering beautiful Panama City’s bay with spectacular 360 degree views and pleasant sea breezes.
